The fluoric origin of the bone lesion in the Pithecanthropus erectus femur

Bibliographic Data

ID8316809
AuthorsM Soriano, Marc A Soriano (0000-0002-6000-1828, Universitat de Barcelona, corresponding author)
Year1970
Volume32
Issue1
Pages49-57
Publication date1970-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9483 • E-ISSN: 1096-8644
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ajpa.1330320107
PMID4984453
OpenAlexW2009809599
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited3

The femur of a patient autopsied 11 years ago is presented in which an osteophyte comparable to the one of the Pithecanthropus Erectus femur can be observed. Their analogous anatomopathological disposition is due to the fact that both are caused by the ossification of the tendinous insertion of the adductors of the thigh. The orifices they both present correspond to the channel of the perforating arteries which normally pierce them. This type of osteophyte is only present as a result of bone fluorosis. The autopsied patient presents a bone fluorosis of the Periostitis deformans' type, as described by the author in 1952. The femur of the Pithecanthropus was found by Eugene Dubois in some geological strata composed mainly of volcanic ash. In the Pithecanthropus, the fluoric intoxication came from the ingestion of fruits and plants impregnated with the fluorine filled volcanic ash. This volcanic fluorisis, known as Gaddur, is now seen among animals living on the volcanic region of Iceland. For these reasons we assume that the Pithecanthropus erectus suffered a bone fluorosis of the type of the Periostitis deformans, which would be the first disease known in man

Femur · Ossification · Periostitis · Anatomy · Ecology and biodiversity studies · Medicine · Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology · Surgery